HomeBussinessExplainer: Speculations about Türkiye-Israel trade debunked

Explainer: Speculations about Türkiye-Israel trade debunked

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Türkiye halted all trade with Israel as of May 2, 2024, over its ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip but there have been unfounded allegations about its exports and imports with the country, whose prime minister and former defense minister are accused of genocide and human rights violations against Palestinians.

As of May 2, 2024, there has been no registration of customs declarations regarding exports and imports from and to Israel, sources said, adding that it is currently impossible to conduct any trade between Türkiye and Israel because the Trade Ministry has removed “Israel” from its list of destination countries.

Sources also rejected claims that trade is still being conducted with Israel, which has a foreign trade code of 624, allegedly according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data, saying that the aforementioned data only refers to trade conducted until May 2024. This data is manipulatively used to create the false perception that Türkiye is still involved in trade with Israel.

As of May 2, all trade activities with the Palestinian state are conducted with the code exclusively designated for Palestine and since Palestine does not have an active port in the Mediterranean, Türkiye delivers all exports through Israeli ports after receiving confirmation from the Palestinian National Economy Ministry.

After Türkiye halted trade with Israel, its exports to Palestine increased, according to Mohammed al-Amour, the Palestinian minister of national economy. He noted that Palestine was exempted from Türkiye’s trade ban at request.

Trade Minister Ömer Bolat recently also vehemently denied any ongoing trade activities with Israel, stressing that Ankara had halted all trade since May. He reiterated that the suspension would continue until Israel agreed to a permanent cease-fire and allowed unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza.

However, Türkiye continues to allow trade with the Palestinian Authority in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip under a mutual agreement, provided that the Palestinian authorities confirm that the goods are intended for Palestinian territories and are exported by Palestinians.

Distorted statistical data

One of the main reasons why Israeli sources claim there’s active trade with Türkiye is because it lists statistical data of trade between Türkiye and Palestine as its own because Israeli ports are used.

Up until May 2023, Turkish exporters listed Israel as the country of destination, to facilitate easier processing on customs, upon the request of the Palestinian state. However, after Israel launched its genocidal attacks on Gaza, all goods bought by Palestine have been registered as exports to Palestine, which boosted registered trade activity with the country on paper, when in reality, figures are very similar to previous years, even slightly lower, sources said.

Ship brokers conduct global trade activities and their location does not indicate that trade is being conducted with that country.

Taking restrictive measures against ship brokers would amplify Türkiye’s processing and time costs and would be disadvantageous for the country and would not harm the Israeli economy, but only cause damage to the Turkish economy.

Regarding claims that Türkiye authorizes cargo vessels carrying goods to Israel to approach Turkish ports, sources said that there are specific regulations to prevent it.

All vessels requesting permission to approach Turkish ports must present a shipping document listing the type of goods being carried, the receiving country, as well as company information, which the Trade Ministry inspects to ensure that no vessel outside the Türkiye-Palestine bilateral mechanism approaches Turkish ports. However, such documents are prepared by countries where the shipped goods are loaded onto the vessels. It is practically impossible for Türkiye to investigate the goods on vessels that only approach Turkish ports and do not unload the goods here and doing so would negatively impact the country’s own needs and trade policies.

Türkiye in May announced the decision to suspend all imports and exports to Israel, citing the country’s ongoing military action in Gaza, and vowed to continue to impose the measures until the Israeli government allows the flow of humanitarian aid to the region.

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